India started their Davis Cup campaign on a resounding note when Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri powered the hosts to a 2-0 lead in their World Group Playoff 1 tie against Denmark at the Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC) here on Friday. Ramkumar put the hosts ahead first up with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 win against Christian Sigsgaard in the opening singles before Yuki Bhambri made it 2-0 for the home fans after edging past Mikael Torpegaard 6-4, 6-4 in a pulsating second singles on the fast grass courts of the DGC.
India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan returns a ball during his match against Denmark’s Christian Sigsgaard during Davis Cup 2022 World Group Playoff 1 tie, at Gymkhana Club, in New Delhi on Friday.
India’s Yuki Bhambri in action.
In the opening match, Ramkumar perfected the low bounce offered by the DGC courts and relied on his slice and serve game to put it across Christian. The Dane simply had no answers to his opponent’s speed and ground strokes despite the Indian serving first after losing the toss.
In the following singles, Yuki was made to sweat hard in the second set by Mikael before the home favourite held his frayed nerves to win a pulsating encounter. After pocketing the first set 6-4, Yuki was on his way to seal the tie at 5-1 when the Dane dramatically turned things around after winning three straight games to narrow down the contest to 5-4. Staving off the challenge put up by Mikael, Yuki followed his instincts and served the match in India’s favour after securing the next game.
“I had to adjust to grass courts as the ball was keeping low. I am a traditional baseline player who likes to hit the ball hard. During the match, I realised that I have the top slice more and it was important during the game to focus on it. Being 1-0 up made my game easy,” said Yuki after his match.
Ramkumar, on his part, credited the home conditions and crowd support for his fantastic win. “I love to slice and serve, so it was a good match for me. The best part was the crowd support. Everything worked well for us. Yesterday when I was practicing, I was hitting the ball quite well. All my forehand and backhand shots were coming off nicely. I felt good about the way I was hitting the ball from the very beginning of the tie. So, it was a great result for the team,” added India’s highest-ranked singles player.
India’s non-playing captain, Rohit Rajpal, expressed happiness over the way both Ramkumar and Yuki executed the plans and returned to the dugout victorious. “Ramkumar was quite sharp with a lot of serve and volley game on display. Yuki had the tight first set and, when it mattered the most, he upped his game and put India ahead 2-0. Today’s result speaks volume of the kind of quality players we have in our squad. We had a clear strategy going into the tie, as the surface was low on bounce. If you look at the grips, it was a hard court grip. Ramkumar and Yuki did well to keep the ball low.”
Denmark’s captain, Frederik Nielsen, sounded optimistic about his team’s chances with the doubles scheduled on Saturday. “We are not under pressure, it’s just that we need to win the doubles tomorrow. If we don’t, we are out! It’s as simple as that. Our doubles team is primarily made up of college boys and Indians are, of course, very strong in this part of the game. India played traditional grass court style of tennis today. Congratulations to them.”
On Day 2, India’s doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will line up against Denmark’s Johannes Ingildsson and Frederik Nielsen. The hosts would look to seal the tie with the doubles win. In case the reverse singles follow, Ramkumar will be first up against Mikael, followed by Yuki taking on Christian in the second singles.
India has been allotted home matches after three years and Delhi is hosting Davis Cup matches after more than five years. The last time Delhi hosted Davis Cup matches was in September 2016 when Rafael Nadal-led Spain defeated India 5-0 in the World Group play-off round at the DLTA complex here.
Earlier, India had made it to the Davis Cup final thrice in 1966, 1974 and 1987 but could never won the ‘World Cup of Tennis’. This tournament is organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The two-day match at the DGC’s fast grass courts will be the first between India and Denmark since September 1984, where India won 3-2 against Denmark in Aarhus. Two sides faced each other for the first time in 1927 when Denmark defeated India 5–0 in the quarter-finals in Copenhagen.